Agricultural feed bagging machines have been employed for several years to pack or bag silage or the like into elongated plastic bags. Two of the earliest bagging machines are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,687,061 and 4,046,068. In the prior art bagging machines, silage or the like is supplied to the forward or intake end of the bagging machine and is fed to a rotor which conveys the silage into a tunnel on which the bag is positioned so that the bag is filled. As silage is loaded into the bag, the bagging machine moves away from the filled end of the bag in a controlled fashion so as to achieve uniformed compaction of the silage material within the bag. In U.S. Pat. No. 4,337,805, silage is forced by means of a rotor means from the intake chamber of the machine through the output chamber of the machine and into the agricultural bag with a backstop structure yieldably engaging the closed end of the agricultural bag to resist the movement of the bagging machine away from the filled end of the agricultural bag as silage is forced into the bag. The backstop structure of the '805 patent comprising of a pair of drums rotatably mounted on the bagging machine with a brake associated therewith for braking or resisting the rotation of the drum with a selected brake force. A cable is wrapped around the drum and is connected to the backstop.
Although the cable drum-backstop structure of the '805 patent and other similar machines do function generally satisfactorily, the cables, which are positioned on opposite sides of the bag, can create openings or holes in the bag which will adversely effect the fermentation process within the bag. A further disadvantage of the cable drum-backstop structure of the devices such as shown in the '805 patent is that the cables must be rewound after the filling of an individual bag. A further disadvantage of the cable drum-backstop structure of the machine such as disposed in the '805 patent is that a dangerous condition exists should one of the cables break.
In an effort to overcome some of the disadvantages of machines such as disclosed in the '805 patent, an attempt was made in U.S. Pat. No. 4,621,666 to achieve the desired bagging operation while eliminating the need for the cable drum-backstop structure. In the '666 patent, the wheels on the bagging machine were braked to provide the desired resistance to the filling of the bag. Although the brake system of the '666 patent apparently met with some success, it is believed that machines such as disclosed in the '666 patent experience slippage difficulties in wet field conditions which adversely effect the bagging operation. It is also believed that the brake means alone on the bagging machine such as those disclosed in the '666 patent do not achieve the desired compaction of the silage material within the bag.
Further, none of the prior art devices which applicant is aware have the capability of enabling the density of the silage material to be selectively controlled without the need of elaborate breaking systems. It is therefore the principal object of the invention to provide an improved agricultural feed bagging machine.
A further object of the invention is to provide a density control means for an agricultural feed bagging machine.
Yet another object of the invention is to provide a density control means for an agricultural feed bagging machine including a plurality of spaced apart density control bars which are positioned rearwardly of the rotor of the bagging machine.
Still another object of the invention is to provide a density control means for an agricultural feed bagging machine including a plurality of spaced apart density control bars which are selectively pivotally moveable into the path of the silage material being compacted.
These and other objects of the invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art.